DEC 17 2009 YEMEN — Warplanes and security forces on the ground attacked an al Qaeda training camp in the area of Mahsad in the southern province of Abyan. Saleh el-Shamsy, a provincial security official, said at least 30 suspected militants were killed. Witnesses, however, put the number killed at over 60 in the heaviest strike and said the dead were mostly civilians. The United States has repeatedly called on Yemen to take stronger action against al-Qaida, whose fighters have increasingly found refuge in Yemen the past year.